Longtime members were planning a two-week European vacation to celebrate a retirement after 25 years as a college professor. They booked through a reputable travel agency specializing in European trips and soon received official travel documents. A few days later, a certified letter arrived offering optional excursion packages, hotel upgrades, and rental car add-ons. The details closely matched their itinerary and appeared legitimate. Soon after, the member received a call from what looked like the travel agency’s phone number, but was actually a scammer calling from a spoofed phone number.
The scammer warned our member that because the purchases were international, their bank might flag the transactions. They even instructed the member on what to say if we questioned the charges. When we declined the transactions, the caller stayed on the line while the member contacted us to request approval. The member even insisted the charges were valid, but our team noticed several red flags that tipped them off that this was a scam.
After reviewing the activity more closely, our representative discovered the transactions were being initiated from an IP address outside the country. What appeared to be a helpful travel representative was actually a fraudster attempting to add costly “excursions” to the trip. Because we paused the transactions and investigated further, the fraudulent charges were blocked. Our members were relieved to learn their legitimate travel plans were intact.
